A.N:

Well...a 114 word section transformed into 967. That's...not quite new, but still surprising.

Chapter 4: Discovery

(Two days later.)

Spider-Man's P.O.V

Finally seeing Mary-Jane was a relief. For once my luck paid off and I caught sight of her leaving my former home. She appeared to have maintained her weight, but her movements weren't as…fluid as they normally were, instead noticeably subdued as she began walking through the neighbourhood. I frowned. "My fault." Every time I laid my six eyes on the two most important people in my life, guilt sank hollowly to the bottom of my stomach. I had run and abandoned everything to protect them, unthinking of how it would hurt them too.

This was still better than what could have happened if I had stayed. I sat up and looked at my claws.

The last time I mutated I ran wild. It was only thanks to people – faceless people who hovered around and in those bits of memory – that I changed back. The whole disaster was a blurry mess, but I remember screams around me. Because of me. I ran to keep that situation from happening again, yet something had changed since then.

I looked up and moved, continuing to track Mary-Jane while thinking.

That was the difference. This time I could think. As stupid as it sounds, I am me this time around instead of a rampaging monster.

"I just don't know what caused this change."

I cast that part of my amnesia aside and followed MJ back to her house from Aunt May's so I would at least know where she should be at later times of night. I wouldn't forget her address this time.

"Geez, now I sound like a stalker."

Fantastic.

Nonetheless, she was back home safe, like Aunt May in her home. And like Aunt May, MJ also took to cleaning her living room when she got in. The process drew attention to her movement again. Slow. Lacking the liveliness that was MJ.

Aunt May, thin and mourning alone.

"I'm so sorry."

This was all my fault… I couldn't take it anymore. Only being able to watch – unable to do anything, to help them – made it feel as if the monstrous muscle in my chest was tearing itself apart.

I leapt from the rooftop, firing a web and swinging away. The only place left for me to return to was my cave. Nothing good would come from staying and letting myself think about what normal used to be.

That being said, the sun was still decently high in the sky.

I landed in a well-practiced crouch, pausing in the middle of yet another rooftop. This could be an opportunity to take my mind off things by doing something closer to normal; a quick circuit of the city before heading back and trying to find more food. "Great power comes with great responsibility Uncle Ben." Hunger I had long since become accustomed to could wait a little longer.

Maybe around two hours later I decided it was time to wrap things up. It seemed to be a quiet day for the criminal world. "One attempted robbery? Seriously?" I snorted. The guy had tried to run when his gun had developed a webby malfunction and gotten his ankles webbed for his efforts, but I really shouldn't complain. The less crimes there were, the better.

As if on cue, my fur bristled and a cut-off shriek sounded from an alley two blocks away. My uppermost set of arms ceased moving through the automatic motions of web-swinging out of the city as my middle set stretched out behind me and shot two sticky webs of their own. Letting momentum do its job, I catapulted back and severed the webs just before they ended, landing on the desired street and reeling the last of them back inside their spinnerets. "Waste not want not." On all eights, I quickly crawled to the edge of the alley and peered over.

Another male had a woman pressed against the wall, knife at the ready. My fur flattened at his growled demands for her valuables and her whimpered pleas to be let go. He even motioned to her wrist for her bracelet as she tossed her bag at him. Why do people have to be like this? Taking everything from others, sometimes just for the sake of it.

I moved to the end of the lane whilst keeping watch. Normally I would hop right in with a quip on my tongue, but neither of them could see me. Nor could I talk. The angle I needed to safely web him would be in reach if I crossed to the other corner, then –

The man jerked his torso back and gestured with the knife again when the lady refused to give up her bracelet just as I got in position. The little glimpse provided showed that she had red hair.

Red hair.

A hiss poured from my throat as multiple webs connected with the thug's limbs. He was yanked back and away from the woman and her things before he even had time to yell, thudding into the dumpster patiently waiting at the dead end.

Multiple more webs made sure he would stay there until the police arrived, something his would-be victim was taking care of, phone stuck to her ear as she grabbed her things and skittered back to the street.

One more glance confirmed everything was taken care of as I left, en route to my cave before anything else could happen.

"That was…"

Too much, after finally seeing MJ earlier. Why did this have to happen after I had found a distraction from my thoughts from before?

"Parker luck."

Now I couldn't pull my mind away from thinking about the two of them again. How I had hurt them.

I suppose that's why I never noticed the truck.

The noise of the traffic blended together in the back of my mind, so I only noticed that one was too close too soon when it was too late to do anything about it. My spider-sense blared as it skidded around the corner when I was walking across the road outside of the grounds I was staying on. "What the -?!" I flinched at the squeal of tires on concrete and tried to jump out of the way only for the truck to hit my waist as it careened down the road, swerving precariously. I suppose I was lucky it was only a glancing blow, maybe because I was close to the opposite kerb, or maybe due to the panicked actions of the driver to avoid the perceived 'monster', but that was all it took to send me flying into a tree.

"Ouch. Trees are hard."

Thankfully I landed in the cover of bushes. The truck driver wasn't so lucky. He was definitely speeding. The vehicle hit the steel divider and overturned, scraping along the ground. My fur plastered itself to my body and I slammed my top claws over my ears, managing to block most of it out. When the ringing in my head stopped I cautiously propped myself up to peer through the leaves, then I noticed another engine approaching.

A police car came tearing around the corner after the truck. "Ah." That explains the speeding somewhat. What did not make sense was that when the policewoman saw the overturned truck ahead of her, she turned on the sirens until she parked behind it.

My claws slammed back down over my ears and a pained shriek was thankfully drowned out by said sirens that were turned off a minute later.

The woman of the oh-so-deafening law then looked as if she made a call for assistance before exiting the vehicle and going to arrest the man, who was trapped in the truck.

"Glad I could help officer. Attempted robberies and car chases are always on the menu." I rolled my eyes, regretting it when the world chose to spin and make my head throb. Loud noises and sensitive hearing did not mix at all. I shook my head slowly and blinked away the spots, standing, only to have my left leg and bottom-left arm buckle. Come to think of it, my back was probably going to bruise as well from colliding with the tree.

"Great, just great."

Unsteady limbs, aching body, headache and dizziness, check. I cut off a groan before it could escape. I did not need armed police discovering and hunting down a spider monster, but peering through the leaves again told me that she was plenty preoccupied with the speeding driver and getting him on flat ground.

"Well," I reasoned, "a few more minutes here can't hurt."

I kept my inner ears as sealed as I could just in case the officer became siren-happy again, but after a few minutes I felt the need to move even though my limbs still felt a bit numb.

Testing that my leg and arm could bear their share of my weight sufficiently, I crawled out of the bushes in the direction of my cave. Yet I only managed half a dozen steps before I stumbled into another tree.

I eyed my arm and leg in frustration. "It's not that bad, just gotta keep moving Spi–"

SNAP!

My head whipped around as I focused on the direction that sound came from. "Ten, maybe nine meters away?" It was too close for comfort. "Move it!"

They were getting closer. Too close. I scrambled back onto all eights, ignoring the lingering protests my body gave as my spider-sense began to ripple.

For the fifth time in (what I remember of) my life, I wasn't fast enough.

A sharp scream sounded from behind me and I jerked around. The girl and I locked gazes as I sensed my aura flare inside for a second.

Then I ran.

(Twenty minutes earlier.)

Jubilee's P.O.V

"Going out for a walk!" I called to Rogue. She was sitting watching a movie and eating popcorn like there was no tomorrow.

"'Kay Jube, see ya later," she managed to mumble around a mouthful of the treat, waving a gloved hand without turning from the screen.

I giggled quietly to myself, smothering it with a hand as Gambit entered the room and took a seat. He started talking about what someone was doing wrong with the cards on screen and Rogue shushed him in clear irritation. Only when I was out the front door did I let the light laugh break free.

We were having nice weather, so I wandered off the paving and started walking through the woodland, taking a shortcut to the cliff path.

"This sure is a swell day. Hey! Maybe I can practice firing my concentrated plasma again! I really need to work on my aim with that."

Just as the plan pieced itself together, I heard the distinct cringeworthy sound of metal on concrete coming from my right. Sirens came soon after.

"A crash! Oh my gosh it's so close to the mansion. I have to check it out!"

I took off running towards where the commotion came from. Although I was a little out of breath by the time I got close, I was just in time to distantly spy a policewoman arresting a man after he climbed down the side of an overturned truck.

I huffed. "He must've been speeding, the dweeb. Oh well, nothing I can do here."

My original destination reconfirmed, I turned to go when there was a rustling in the bushes. "Huh?" My head tilted in curiosity and I slowly backed away from my spot to take a peek.

SNAP!

"Aah! Oh…that was silly. It's just a twig. What a cliché."

Now that my heart was racing I was super aware that the rustling had stopped. Shaking my head at myself, I stepped forward enough to see over the plants and let out a small scream.

I had no idea what I was expecting. I didn't even get a good look at it, whatever it was. I was drawn to its eyes; the red, glowing ones looking right at me. Our gazes locked for less than a second before it disappeared. It was like it had never been there at all.

I stood frozen – shocked – for a split second longer, then I ran.

3rd Person P.O.V

The mansion doors burst open just as Logan and Scott were walking down the hallway, meaning Jubilee collided with them as she sprinted inside. They fell to the floor in an incoherent mess of limbs, struggling to be heard over each other.

"– sheath your claws Wolverine! There's no attack, it's just –"

"Guys! I just saw –"

"Geroff a' me the two a' ya!"

The yelling and scuffling drew Marie and Remy out into the hall. It was interrupting the movie after all. "Hey, just what are you lot doin' out 'ere? We can't hear the movie!" Rogue said indignantly.

"Yeah, what's goin' on?" added Gambit.

Combined with the other three confused voices clamouring off the walls, there was quite a commotion. The remainder of the team came running from wherever they had been in the mansion, thinking there was some kind of dire emergency.

"What is happening here?!"

"Everyone, please! Calm –"

"We can't hear the movie!"

"What are you three doing on the floor?"

"– get yer elbow outta my face!"

"Jubilee –"

"QUIET!"

The strong mental command brought silence quickly. This came from no other than Professor Charles Xavier, who was in his office, the next floor up.

"I suggest that you all come to my study so we can discuss this properly."

As the telepathic link faded the trio in the middle of the hall finally untangled themselves and climbed to their feet. They followed the rest of their group to the Professor's study in silence. Once there, Beast knocked politely and everyone trooped in.

"Now, would anyone care to explain to me what happened?" the Professor asked.

Jubilee stepped forward. "It was me that caused that mess downstairs. Sorry guys, I shouldn't have run in like that," she apologised, rubbing her arm sheepishly and looking at the group around her.

"That's easily forgiven Jubilee, but what caused you to rush inside in such a panic?" Charles asked calmly.

"Well, I saw something outside today and it was real…strange. I've never seen anything like it before – not that I got a good look at it, but…" she trailed off, brow scrunching and oblivious to the concerned expressions of the others.

The Professor hummed in thought. "May I see?" He gestured to her head with a hand.

Jubilee nodded in response. "Sure, I think that'll be better anyway..."

Permission having been granted, the Professor closed his eyes and focused, sifting through recent memories until he witnessed what his student had seen. It was over in less than a minute and he sat back. Noting the questioning stares from the rest of the X-Men, he proceeded to share the memory with everyone else.

Scott interrupted, "Just what the hell is that thing?!"

A look from the Professor silenced him as their mentor thought for a moment. "Whatever it is, we must search for it," he answered. "Based on the brief look at those eyes, it is large, and it could be on the hunt. For the safety of this school, we cannot have it running loose in the grounds."

Nothing more needed to be said after that. The team got to work.

Jean went to Cerebro to see if she could detect any new presences nearby, Rogue and Storm would perform aerial surveillance, and Cyclopes, Beast, Wolverine and Gambit would form pairs and search on the ground. Jubilee was to stay inside and fetch a drink to calm down while talking with the Professor to see if her subconscious had picked anything up.

(One week later.)

There was no trace of anything indicating a new organism found throughout the grounds. The X-Men searched all week on rotations but had no results. It seemed like Jubilee's mysterious creature had vanished; moved on. The team remained cautious for a while, but they did not worry or look for it anymore. Life returned to normal.